Snowmobiles generally include a forward body portion including a motor, a rearward seat portion on which the driver and passenger sit and which is positioned on top of a drive track member, and a pair of forward skis extending from the forward body portion. Snowmobiles, although extremely maneuverable in snow, are quite heavy and cumbersome to move about on hard surfaces such as concrete garage floors. To accommodate such movement and prevent damage to the concrete floors caused by driving the snowmobile directly onto the garage floor, dollies to make the snowmobiles more mobile and support the snowmobile above the floor level are very useful. Such dollies need to be stable and secure to prevent the snowmobile from tipping or falling off creating a risk of damage to the snowmobile or personal injury.
Prior art snowmobile dollies are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,777,829; 3,860,078; 4,288,087; 5,441,378; 5,449,184; 5,632,498; 5,716,016; 6,015,254; and 6,206,386. All of these devices commonly employ a framework of one or more pieces having wheels or casters for enabling movement of the loaded snowmobile. Several of these devices incorporate lifting or hoisting devices for moving the snowmobile upwardly onto the dolly itself. The '184 patent includes a mechanism by which the dolly can be frictionally inhibited from rolling on the support surface so that the snowmobile can be unloaded without that danger.
Although such prior art dollies generally perform satisfactorily for their intended purpose, it is desirable to provide a differently styled dolly which prevents driving contact of the snowmobile directly upon the garage floor and which permits stabilized loading and unloading of the snowmobile so as to provide a maneuverable support device.